World of Warcraft: Dragonflightis seen by many players as a hopeful reiteration of Activision Blizzard’s genre-defining MMO. Gone is the bloat from several expansions of borrowed power, gone are stale universe-ending threats.Dragonflightseeks to tell a simpler story ofadventure on the Dragon Isles, with villains and threats that are a lot less cosmic and a lot more personal to Azeroth and its people.
It’s no secret one of themajor gripes thatWorld of Warcraftplayers hadwith the story was the world itself was barely allowed any room to breathe. Conflict upon conflict, crisis upon crisis – the 40 years that followed the storyline from the firstWarcraftgame toDragonflightwere fraught with endless war and constant strife. At this point, many would argue that the life of a common farmer in Azeroth seeking a peaceful life is synonymous with a lesson in futility.
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Lead Narrative Designer forWorld of WarcraftSteve Danuser would agree, and withShadowlandsclosing one chapter in theWarcraftsaga, he feels thatDragonflightgave the narrative team an opportunity to let Azeroth experience a period of peace and reflection. Offering clarification on the official game forums, Danuser explained that the beginning ofShadowlandstook place in Year 35, while the start of Dragonflight would take place in Year 40. Given the disconnected nature of the campaign against the Jailer in the Realm of Death,ShadowlandsandDragonflighthave effectively provided Azeroth five years of relative calm.
It allowed alliances to strengthen, lands to heal, romance to bloom, and one of the key moments that occurred in this time skip is the wedding between Lor’themar Theron and First Arcanist Thalyssra, revealed in an idle conversation that Horde players can encounter during their adventures inDragonflight. Given countless examples of tragic love stories and doomed relationships in the largerWorld of Warcraftsaga, it’s a refreshing change of pace to have simple, straightforward, successful one instead.
The time skip does pose an interesting question often asked by the players – if the in-game world will finally reflect its real state in the lore. As it stands, the majority of Azeroth’s zones are still perpetually trapped in time, locked in a frozen state sinceCataclysm, and representing a narrative dissonance that is difficult for players to ignore. Though Blizzard has stated several times in the past that aworld revamp forWorld of Warcraftwas a lofty expectation due to the massive amount of resources it took away inCataclysm’sdevelopment, one has to wonder if the expansion afterDragonflightwill finally let players see the mean streets of Gadgetzan in their full glory.
World of Warcraftis available now on PC, withDragonflightlaunching later this year.
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